Not I (2000)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Neil Jordan

Writer:

Samuel Beckett (play)

Genre:

Short

Plot Keywords:

Monologue | Mouth | Lips | Teeth | Experimental Film

Cast

Julianne Moore

...

Auditor / Mouth

Runtime:

Canada:14 min

Country:

Ireland

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Company:

Blue Angels Films

Movie Connections:

Featured in Check the Gate: Putting Beckett on Film (2003) (V)

Soundtrack:

Walpurgis Night

Astounding, confusing, transfixing.

As part of Channel 4's Beckett On Film season, Neil Jordan directed Julianne Moore in Not I. A technical feat to see on stage as all you see is a mouth. It was also filmed with Billie Whitelaw in the 1970s.

This production began quite differently in that you saw Moore come into view, sit down and then the light hit her mouth. But for the rest of it, that's all you saw.

It appears as if the mouth is being prompted by an unseen and unheard person because of the halting nature of the speech. It is as if the mouth is being asked questions (notably about "the buzzing"). At four separate points of the film, the mouth says "no... she" as if it is being asked "was this you?" It is clear that this is her own experience but wishes to refute it.

It was confusing to watch initially as the camera did not stay still, but the hypnotic rhythm of Moore's voice and the wonderful writing of Beckett kept me transfixed. Difficult to understand but technically amazing, it was worth seeing.